


Let's Take This Step Together

by RobotWitchcraft



Category: Futurama
Genre: Angst, Angst and Feels, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Angst with a Happy Ending, Comfort, Comfort/Angst, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Hurt/Comfort, Hurt/Comfort, Intimacy, M/M, Non-Sexual Intimacy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-07
Updated: 2019-10-07
Packaged: 2020-11-26 13:34:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 4,636
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20931071
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RobotWitchcraft/pseuds/RobotWitchcraft
Summary: Bender gets hurt, and Fry takes care of him.





	1. Let's Go To Omicron-Persei 8

"Good news, everyone!" Said the professor, as usual. "You will be delivering a shipment of firearms to the planet Omicron-Persei 8."

"...Are you sure this is a good idea?" Chimed in Leela. "Remember the last time we delivered guns? That incident with the Blips and the Cruds?"

"Well that was your fault," Corrected the professor. "But, yes, this is definitely not a good idea! Well, ta-ta!" He said in an all-too-gleeful tone.

"Oh lord..." Leela groaned. "Well, let's get started then, I guess. Everyone in the ship."

Fry entered the ship slumped over with his hands in his pockets, and Bender let out an overdramatic groan.

"Lady, do we have to?"

Leela crossed her arms. "Yeah, it's your job, tincan."

Bender rolled his optics and went into the ship.

...

During the flight, Bender reminiced about the time he went to go save Fry from this planet. He felt awful about abandoning him in the first place, but that made rescuing him all the more satisfying, although bittersweet.

Fry was angry with him at first, but he eventually got over it. It ended up being a huge step in their relationship, since it helped Bender realize his feelings for the meatball, and the same went for Fry.

"Alright, we're here." Leela said unceremoniously. "Bender, you get the crate. I'll go with you to make sure you don't go and hurt yourself."

"Why does Bender have to do everything?" Bender mumbled to himself. But secretly, he felt kind of happy that people cared enough about him to make sure he was safe.

"And me?" Fry mouthed hopefully.

"You stay here. You have to guard the ship."

Frys face fell. "Fine. But I get to do the delivery next time!"

"No promises!" Leela shot back.

...

The guns were being delivered to Lrr, ruler of the planet Omicron-Persei 8.

Leela took charge in talking to him. "Alright. Here is your package, sir. Just sign here and we'll be on our way."

The large alien used his comically large hands to pick up the pen and scribble a messy signiture onto the paper. The whole process of the delivery went smoothly and without any rough confrontation.

Until it happened.

Lrr looked back at his most prized possession: his TV. "Why is it all static-y?" He growled in an enraged tone. 

Leela and Bender exchanged awkward glances at each other. It was Benders antenna. His thoughts were being transmitted at the same frequency again, just like at he and Frys old, temporary apartment.

Leela shifted around uncomfortably, "Welp, this has nothing to do with us, so we'll just be on our way now-"

"No!" Lrr shouted. "It's the robot! I can tell!"

Leela made a signal towards Bender. "Run for it!"

Leela grabbed Benders arm and they bolted for the ship.

"You disrupted my program, so now you must pay!" Lrr said in an exaggerated voice. He got most of his speech patterns from TV, unsurprisingly.

Lrr pulled out one of the guns they delivered and aimed it at the android. They were almost at the ship, but Lrr pulled the trigger. 

It got him multiple times. Once through his right arm, another through his left knee. One hit his head, one hit his chest. The ones that went to his main chassis simply bounced off, but damage was still done to it.

"BENDER!" Fry shouted from the ship, voice already cracking and tears starting to form in his eyes. Wiring and spikes of metal were everywhere, but Leela managed to hoist him into the ship and launch herself into the captains seat so they could fly away from the planet.


	2. Let's Grieve Over Our Robot Boyfriend

They were floating through space now, and Fry was sobbing while hunched over Benders lifeless chassis. 

"Oh, Bender..." Fry cried, his voice and body shaking involuntarily. "Why did they have to go and kill you?! Why?! We could have just peacefully left but they wanted to cost us a soul! They cost us your soul!"

After Fry was done voicing his breakdown, there was an air of silence around the ship, aside from the sounds of Fry sniffling and the ocassional choke.

Leela gave an empathetic tone. "I'm sorry, Fry. If it's any consolation, the professor might be able to fix him. He has a degree in engineering and robotics, you know." Leela informed.

"Yeah, I j-" Fry choked back tears, trying to at least finish his sentence. "-I just hope he's okay."

...

The crew had finally gotten back to earth and landed the ship. They carried Benders heavy, metal body to the professor.

"Professor! B-Bender just got shot with this laser gun and we need you to fixhimbecauseheismybestfriendandIlovehimsomuchandIcannoitlivewithouthimand-"

"Point is, we need you to fix him." Leela abbreviated.

"Okay, slow down and let me take a look..."

There was silence as the professor examined Benders casing and circuits.

"He's badly hurt." The professor stated the obvious. "His gyroscope is fried. He won't be able to walk or cooridinate anything correctly until we replace it. Same story for his arm and his leg."

Fry was trying to keep his cool. He pointed at Benders head. "What about here? He got shot here too. Is that why he won't wake up?"

"Oh, Fry, I'm sorry, but.." The professor held a pitiful look on his face. "It seems his memory has been corrupted. It seems he was trying to save something as he got shot. And his main boot file is attatched to his memories, which is why he won't wake up." The professor shook his head. "At the very least, he won't be haunting you like last time. Since his memories are simply corrupted, and not destroyed, he can't go up into the robot ghost cloud again. He's trapped in his own mind right now."

"Is there any way you can fix him?" Fry asked, panic eminent in his voice.

"Yes." The professor answered, which prompted a sigh of relief from Fry. "There's replacement limbs down in the basement, but Scruffy's cleaning down there right now, so you can't go down there just yet. Right now, though, we'll focus on his memories. It'll take about a month to recover it, since we'll have to encrypt his thoughts into many computer languages."

The professor turned Bender head so the back was facing him, and ejected a small disc from it. "All of Benders memories are on here. If you want, you can take his body for now. Whatever you wanna do with it."

Fry didn't really know what the professor was implying, and, frankly, he wasn't sure if he did wanna know.

Regardless, he thanked the professor and carefully picked up his boyfriends body. Obviously, he took the rest of the day off, and started heading towards he and his currently-deceased roommates' apartment.

...

Fry got to the apartment and set Bender down on their bed. 

"Oh, Bender..." Fry murmured sombrely. "I love you. I hope even a smidge of you is somewhere in there."

... 

After awhile, things got way too depressing and lonely. Fry had to hear his voice again. 

He reached to the back of Benders 'neck' and flipped a small, near impossible-to-see switch labeled ON/OFF. He switched it to ON.

Benders visor opened to reveal a blank expression. All he said was a simple "I am Bender. Please insert girder."

Bender wasn't in there. Not now. Right now, all his body was was a bending unit. But still, hearing his voice was still comforting, even if it was way more robotic than Fry was used to.

"Hey Bender, you know what we're gonna do when you get back?"

"I am Bender. Please insert girder."

"We're gonna go to Elzars, and we're gonna cuddle on the couch and watch 'All my Circuits'. It's gonna be great."

"I am Bender. Please insert girder."

"You are Bender, buddy. You're Bender."

Fry then flipped the ON/OFF switch to OFF.


	3. Let's Get Our Robot Boyfriend Back

Fry started to get kinda weird with Benders chassis. He would cuddle with it at night, even when it was freezing cold. He would bring it into the bathtub with him, just like how he and Bender would do.

Fry felt horribly lonely like this, but it was the best he could do. All he wanted was his best friend back, and right then, it was all he had of him.

This went on for a few weeks, until people finally started taking a stand.

"Spleesh, Fry..." Amy mocked. "Why do you have to drag Benders corpse everywhere? It's kinda creepy..."

"Yeah, Fry." Leela added. "I know you miss him, but can you at least keep him at your apartment or something? You don't have to bring him to work everyday."

"Hey! Did you guys lose your boyfriend? No? Then shut it!" Fry snapped, unconciously picking up Benders dialect.

Amy and Leela backed off defensively, when professor Farnsworth walked into the room. "Good news, everyone!"

Fry groaned. "Professor, I'm sorry but I'm not really in the mood for a delivery right now-"

"No, we restored Benders memories!" The professor exclaimed happily. "Obviously his body is still badly damaged, but now you should be able to at least talk to him."

Fry jumped out of his seat. "Oh my god! Thank you, professor!" 

"Oh, stop." The professor shrugged, his ego building. "Bring his body into my lab and I'll re-insert the disc."

Fry gently picked up Benders tattered and worn-down body and began following the old man, but not before turning to the two women and mouthing the words "Told ya.", to which they just rolled their eyes to.

Fry brought Benders body into the white, sterile-looking room that was the professors lab.

"Set him down on his back and flip his head around so the back is facing towards me."

Fry obliged and set Bender down onto the medical table, then turned his head.

The professor pressed a near-invisible button on the back of Benders head, which created a small slit right next to the button. The professor slipped the disc inside.

"Alright. Now Fry, turn him on." Farnsworth instructed.

"Well, I think I need to power him up first before I can do that." Fry joked.

Fry turned Benders head around to it's neutral position, then delicately picked up Bender by his side and flipped him over. Fry opened Benders chest compartment, reached in the back, and flicked the ON/OFF switch like he'd done many other times before that past month.

Benders visor opened up once again, and instead of the usual emotionless expression (or lack thereof) Fry had been used to seeing that past month, he witnessed an extremely weary one, his optics half open and faded. But at least he had feeling.

"What happened..? I feel awful.." Bender spotted Fry, and there was a sting of anxiety in his voice. "F-Fry? What happened? Are you okay?"

Fry slipped his hand into Benders. "Yeah. I'm fine. I wanna know if you're fine. You got hurt on a mission about a month ago, and we only just got you back, dude."

"A month?" Bender gasped. "What did I miss?"

"Not a lot." Fry admitted. "By the way, your gyro-thingy is busted too, not just your limbs."

"Yeesh." Bender sounded, rubbing the back of his head. "I got hurt pretty badly, huh?" He turned to the professor. "So how long until I work again?"

"It will take about 3 weeks to get the money to replace your gyroscope, but it won't take long at all to fix your limbs, since we have extras in the basement." The professor pointed his thumb to the entrance of the basement.

"Alright. Bender, I'll be right back-"

"Wait!" Bender said, "I...I haven't seen you in a while. I wanna go with you."

"I mean.." Fry gave in. "Okay. If you really want to."

Fry opened his arms as Bender clumsily tried to sit up. When he was up, he slowly lowered himself into Frys arms. Fry was practically holding him as he tried to hobble over to the door.


	4. Let's Go To The Basement

Fry and Bender reached the creaky wooden stairs of the dark basement.

"Ok, I don't think you can get down these stairs." Fry said to Bender. "How are we gonna do this?"

Bender pondered for a moment. "How about we count to three, then I jump into your arms?"

Fry groaned. "You should've just stayed in the lab."

Bender crossed his arms. "You don't understand! There's something important I need to tell you, and I want some privacy."

The human sighed. "Fine. If you say so." Fry slowly let go of Bender, taking extra care to make sure he wouldn't fall over, then opened his arms. "Okay, on a count of three, you jump and I'll catch you."

"One..."

"Two..."

"Now!"

Bender jumped slightly off the ground, and Fry managed to catch him. He stumbled backwards a bit, but he caught himself on the railing.

"Jeez, you're stronger than I thought." Bender commented. "I'm 40% titanium. How did you get so strong?"

Fry blushed. "I've been doing stuff like this all month. I've been carrying your body around." Fry looked away out of embarrassment. "I know that sounds creepy, but I got super lonely."

Bender was dumbfounded, and looked at him in disbelief. "Fry, you don't gotta feel bad about that. I would've done the same thing. Granted, your body would be dead by the time a month passed...but that's not important! If you had a robot body, I would do the same!"

Fry smiled, charmed by Benders sincerity. "Thanks, buddy." He kissed Benders mouthplate, electricity dancing between them.

Fry then pulled away and cautiously took a step down the stairs, creaking echoing throughout the basement in the process.

"I can't see anything."

"Here, let me help you out."

Bender lit up one of his optics, using it as a flashlight. They saw the floor of the basement, and near the back wall was a small, worn box simply labeled "Benberz stUff"

"Jeez, when did you write that? Kindergarten?" Fry laughed.

"Shaddup," Replied Bender, "They gave me this box when I was made. That was before kindergarten."

They both giggled, and they trudged the last few steps of the staircase. Bender shined his light around the room, and Fry felt him jump a little.

"What's up?" Fry asked, concerned.

Bender pointed to a figure in the corner of the room. It was an old man lazily flipping through an adult magazine.

"Scruffy!" Fry scolded. "Can't we get some alone time here?!"

"Never 'preciated 'round here." Scruffy mumbled.

He grabbed the magazine and walked up the stairs to the main floor. Finally, Bender and Fry were alone.

"So what was it you wanted to tell me?" Fry asked curiously.

Bender lowered his head and looked at the ground. "W-Well...I love you." Bender said sharply. "I know you already knew that, I mean, you're my boyfriend after all...but I thought you needed to hear it again. I love you so, so much."

This time it was Bender who initiated the kiss. "Thanks for sticking by me all this time."

Fry felt tears welling up in his eyes. "Of course! Why wouldn't I?"

He tightly hugged Bender even closer to him. "Now let's go replace your arm and your leg."

Fry gently set Bender down onto the cold wooden floor of the basement and opened the worn down box. The box was filled with various components of an average Bending unit- optics, visors, foot cups- the usual stuff.

Fry stuck his hand into the box and pulled out what they needed; an arm and a leg. Literally.

"Here they are," Muttered Fry. "Lemme just stick these back on."

As Fry was reattatching Benders limbs, he thought of the day he and Bender first met.

Fry was already encouraging and invigorating Bender from the very first day they knew each other. Fry taught Bender to think outside his own programing on that day.

The same exact feeling was present as Fry was switching Benders limbs out. Pride, comfort, trust; it was all so familiar.

And with one last 'clunk!', Benders appendages looked as good as new.

"Thanks, Fry. Lemme try this out."

Before Fry could stop him, he was already up, and stumbling around like a drunk toddler. Fry quickly grabbed Benders shoulders before he could fall over.

"Slow down," Fry calmly whispered, "Your gyro-thingy is broken, whatever it is. But you can't walk around without it. I still gotta guide you around until it's fixed."

"Oh." Bender said, simply. "Well, can we take the rest of the day off? I wanna spend time with you, meatbag."

Fry gave Bender a sympathetic smile. "Yeah. Yeah we can."


	5. Let's Cuddle

Bender and Fry got back to their apartment. Fry had been guiding Bender around by holding his hip with one hand and holding his hand with the other.

Fry opened the door and guided Bender towards their bed, which Bender promptly flopped down on.

"Can you flip me overrrr?" Bender whined through his pillow.

Fry rolled his eyes and turned him onto his back. "You don't have to be extra. You're not a kid with the bubonic plague." Fry joked.

"What's the boob atomic page?"

"Exactly."

Fry shrugged off his signiture red jacket and fell down onto the bed next to Bender. He started tracing his fingers around the outline of his chestplate, which made Bender steam up a bit.

"Y'know, I missed ya, dude..." Fry admitted. "I missed this. I love you too, ya trashcan."

Fry leaned in and pressed his lips against Benders mouth plate - like he'd done many times before - while Bender slowly crept his hands along Frys back, using his fingers to draw circles along his spine.

Frys body practically melted into Benders cold, metal casing. Bender moved his free hand to the back of Frys head, and began gently running his fingers through Frys soft, orange hair.

"I wanna stay like this for awhile." Fry whispered to Bender.

"...We can." He murmured.

Fry pulled himself closer to Bender as he hugged him tighter.

"Goodnight, babe." Fry tiredly mumbled under his breath.

"'Night." Bender whispered casually.

Benders visor closed and his head rolled off to the side, as Fry slowly drifted off to sleep.

...

Bender was the first to wake up. He stretched and glanced down at the small, fleshy being cuddled up next to him. Bender stared wistfully at him.

"God, he's cute." He thought.

Bender snapped out of his daydream, though, when he saw the human toss around and sit up.

"Mornin', Bender." Fry smiled, "What time is it?"

Bender checked his internal clock. "7:05."

"Ah," Fry sounded. "We still have time to watch All My Circuits before work."

Fry lifted himself off the bed and rested his hand on Benders back. Bender looked at him curiously before he remembered he couldn't walk. Bender scooched himself around on the bed until his legs were hanging off the side of it.

Fry lowered his arm under Benders knees and hoisted him up, Bender curled up right next to his chest.

Bender let out a giggle, unusual for him. "I feel like a princess, meattube."

Fry smiled at him. "Well, then you're my princess, metalface."

Bender gently nudged his face away in feigned annoyance. "That was the sappiest thing I've ever heard. Now take me to the couch, peasant."

Fry chuckled and rolled his eyes. "Alright, my prince." Fry landed a kiss on Benders forehead, and his body temperature rose a little.

Fry put Bender down on the living room couch and turned on the TV. Fry waltzed into the kitchen and grabbed a bottle of beer for Bender, which he chugged down (along with the bottle itself) within 2 seconds.

"Thanks, I needed that."

"Is that a new record?"

"Nah, I've done faster."

All My Circuits was just starting. This episode was about how Monique found out that Calculons half-brothers half-sister was cheating on her boyfriend with Calculons pastors best friend.

They watch it while snuggling on the couch until they had to leave for work.


	6. Let's Take This Step Together

As the days passed by, Bender grew wearier and wearier.

"As much as I enjoy being carried around by you," Bender started, "I...really don't wanna do this anymore. I'm tired as hell and I'm not getting any better like you meatbags can."

Fry was so used to hearing Bender brag about how robots were so much better than humans, so it was more than weird to hear Bender talk about how he was jealous of "meatbags" as he put it. Fry had never really seen this side of Bender before, and as such, he felt immense pity for the poor robot.

"I know, but it won't be that much longer." Fry promised.

Suddenly, Fry felt his eyePhone ring.

"I'm sorry, man. Just a sec."

Fry saw it was a call from Professor Farnsworth, so he signaled Bender to get out of frame if he didn't want the professor to realize he'd been upset. Bender sulked to another room, and Fry answered the call.

"Good news, Fry!"

"Is Benders gyro-thingy ready?" Fry asked excitedly.

"No, Benders gyro-thingy is ready!"

Fry internally facepalmed but kept up his happy demeanor. "Great! We'll be there in a few."

"A few wha-?"

Fry rolled his eyes. "Just give us 10 minutes." Then hung up.

...

When Fry and Bender got to Planet Express, the building was in chaos.

Zoidberg and the professor were fighting over who got to operate on Bender.

"I'm the licensed doctor! I should be able to fix the robot!" Zoidberg would yell.

"Oh shush, you don't even know anything about robots! I'm the mechanic!" The professor would rebuttal.

The had apparently been going on for awhile. It was kinda sad to see, considering their history together, but they still had to fix Bender.

Fry was trying to calm them down. "Guys, can we just work on-"

"Shut up Fry, this isn't about you!" They'd shout in unison.

Eventually, Fry had enough of them. "Fine, if you two won't fixed Bender, then I guess I'll just do it myself."

This prompted shocked looks from everyone in the room, including the robot in his arms. "Fry, are you nuts?!" Bender whispered.

"Calm down. I've fixed you before, haven't I? This won't be that different. Just put some faith in me."

...

Fry slowly set Bender down onto the white table. Fry let Bender choose between the professors lab and Zoidbergs office, and Bender decided on the professors lab since he was more accustomed to it. And, just in Frys luck, the replacement gyroscope was set on a table just adjacent to where Bender was sitting.

"Tell me if you get uncomfortable." Fry would say this whenever he and Bender were to do something new or risky. It always calmed Bender down a bit, knowing someone was listening.

Fry softly grabbed the handle on Benders chestplate and opened it up. Everywhere you looked there were turning gears and wires. It's a wonder how Bender manages to store so much stuff in there.

"Okay...this is harder than I thought. Point to where your gyroscope is."

Bender rolled his optics. "Really putting my trust in you, skintube."

Bender pointed at a small chip attatched to his main motherboard. The chip looked burnt, from the heat of the lasergun hitting Benders chassis.

Fry opened a drawer and rummaged around in it for something he could use. He picked out a small screwdriver from the back of the compartment. "Not what I was looking for, but it'll work." Fry thought.

Fry walked back over to Bender and used the screwdriver to pick off the burnt chip. 

"How d'ya feel? I'm not hurting you, am I?" Fry checked.

Bender shook his head. "Nope. Feels kinda nice, actually. Like a massage for your insides."

Fry smirked. "I kinda don't wanna think about how that would work on a human."

Bender looked to the side out of fake irritance. "You humans are too sensitive. Just let me rummage around in your guts for awhile, you'll be fine."

The duo laughed and Fry finally got the chip out. He looked over the space it once occupied, then grabbed the replacement that was next to him.

"So how does this go in?" Fry asked.

"You have to solder it." Replied a worried Bender. "Y'know, I really think the professor should do this part-"

"No." Fry responded. "I like this. I like how close I can be to you right now. Just let me do this for you." 

Bender admired Frys determination. Bender was willing to let himself get hurt, as long as he got to see Fry this happy.

Bender thought for a moment, then simply responded with a delayed "Ok."

...

Fry grabbed a lighter from the same drawer as the screwdriver. He then walked back over to Bender and was, once again, looking at his innards.

"Where was it, again?" Fry thought.

Fry started poking around random places along Benders motherboard, trying to find the empty spot the gyroscope was previously on. Benders optics shot open.

"H-Hey! Don't touch around there! Especially not in public!" Bender scolded with a shaky voice.

Frys face went bright red and he jerked his hands away. "Sorry, sorry!" Fry looked back inside. "I think I found it, anyways."

Fry eyed a vacant spot near the leftmost side of the board. He carefully stuck the chip onto it and started attatching it on with the soldering tool.

"There, that should do it!" Fry exclaimed pridefully. He took his hands out of the robot and promptly closed the opening.

"Try it out." Fry encouraged excitedly.

Bender lept off the table, and safely landed on his two footcups with perfect balance. Frys eyes lit up with excitement.

Bender pulled out a cigar and took a drag of it. "I'm back, baby."

Fry ran over to Bender and practically crashed into him as he hugged him as tightly as he could. Bender was finally able to return the action.

"You're fixed! I fixed you!" Fry exclaimed with pure happiness.

"You know it, toots." Bender ruffled Frys hair.

"But wait..." Fry started, which prompted a questioning look from Bender. 

"What were you trying to save earlier? When you were running from Lrr, you tried to save something to your memory banks. What was it?"

Benders optics narrowed into a frightening look. "How do you know that?"

Fry started rubbing his hand along Benders back out of instict, trying to calm him down. "That's all I know, I swear. All we know is that you tried to save something."

Benders optics softened and his grip on Fry got tighter. "Fry, I'm gonna be completely honest with you. You better promise that these words never leave this room. If anyone asks, say I was just trying to save something to my 200 terabyte folder of robot pornos. Got that?"

Fry gave a concerned look to Bender, the serious and strict tone completely counteracting his usual personality. But he agreed to Benders wishes. "Okay. I understand."

Bender looked away. "I..." He glanced back at the expecting look Fry was giving him. There was no turning back now.

"I..." He sighed. "...Was trying to save pictures of you." Bender covered his face with his arm. "I thought that, if I was gonna die right then and there, I would want more memories of you to take into robot limbo or robot hell or robot wherever!"

Tears started running down the humans face. "You were really trying to do something like that?"

Fry took a moment then kissed the robot on his cheek, then again on his mouthplate when Bender finally turned to him.

There was a silent serenity in the room as they found how much the two cared for each other. Bender pulled Fry a tad closer to him.

"...I love ya, meatbag."


End file.
